Cathédrale de Notre-Dame, Chartres

It is a waste of time and effort trying to dream up superlatives to describe Chartres cathedral. It is simply one of the wonders of the world. It’s the sort of place you must visit if you have a chance. It is pointless trying to describe it - you have to go there, watch the building looming up across Beauce's wheat fields, find a parking place in the quiet, rather non-descript town, wander about and then enter the cool temple of dark, light and colour to have your breath taken away. It hits you like a hammer.

Chartres is a pretty little town of about 39,000 people, with plenty high-quality bakers, patisseries and other boutiques. On the south side of the cathedral are a couple of good quality bookshops, while on the north side there is a glass museum and shop started by Gabriel Loire. He was, in my view, probably the greatest of the modern stained glass artists.

Chartres has been a place of pilgrimage, going back into the mists of time and legend. You can read about these matters widely and in many places. This page will concentrate on the marvel that is Chartres cathedral. Like many a place of pilgrimage, Chartres has its holy and miraculous relic, in this case a piece of cloth variously referred to as the veil of Mary, mother of Jesus, or tunic, or nursing dress. Naturally, this veil has been linked to various miraculous events and cures. This relic is so famous that it has appeared in stylised form on coins, tokens, pendants and other lead alloy souvenirs sold to visitors in mediaeval times, and on the arms of Chartres.

“It is sometimes difficult to recall that the Cathedral of the Middle Ages was not only a holy place of prayer, but the centre of a vast ecclesiastical settlement, that it was surrounded by the dwelling places of Canons and priests, by schools of letters and of theology, by halls of judicial administration, and that, in itself, it was often a place of refuge, a fortress in which the inhabitants of the besieged city could gather to make a last, strong stand. The tendency of the centuries has been to relieve the Church of the cares of temporal government and to place the more technical and unspiritual branches of knowledge under the charge of national schools and lay instructors. With the passing of the mediæval customs and cares, the great dependencies of the Cathedral disappeared, the "Bishop's City" became a memory, and the Cathedral often remains in solitary grandeur to suggest the past.”
[Rose, Isle de France, pp.176-7]

“So far as she was able, the Church filled the land of these Bibles of stone, and such as still remain are mute but magnificent refutation of the too sweeping statement that she kept the knowledge of Holy Writ from the people and held them in mere ignorant subjection. To the clerics, the only class of men who had books and cared overmuch to read them, she gave her manuscripts and the care of preaching and interpretation; to the layman, who could read but little, or not at all, she gave pictures, many hundreds of different pictures, which told the story of her Faith; and, from sunrise until the night closed down, every one, from the proudest lord to the humblest old peasant, might find his Bible in the Cathedral, and might come as he would and study the Holy Book in stone, in fresco, or in glass.”
[Rose, Isle de France, pp.125-6]

Because Chartres cathedral was built over a relatively short period, about twenty-five years, the cathedral is much more integrated in its design and execution than many other cathedrals, built during several centuries and so with many designers and constructors.

the buttressing of chartres

Buttresses support the the weight of roof and walls, preventing the walls from collapsing outwards under the weight. With the walls no longer being the only load-bearing part of the cathedral's structure, vast opening could be made and filled with stained glass.

To ensure the entrance of daylight and the visibility of the windows, the buttresses were built so they would not obscure or shade the windows. The buttressing of Chartres cathedral is an exemplar demonstration of this technique.

Here are photographs of the cathedral's south side. The face-on picture [left] shows how the buttresses are placed between the windows rather than across them, while the side view [right] shows how the buttresses bulk is reduced to minimise shadows and to allow more light to enter through the windows. The letters A, B, C, D match the same buttresses on the face-on and side views.

some stained glass

As with any good art gallery, the visitor can spend many hours and many visits to appreciate the glass. To help the visitor prepare, abelard has chosen a number of the most interesting and spectacular stained glass from the 200-odd windows (depending on how they are counted). abelard has also chosen a variety of medallion shapes.

The stained glass windows of Chartres date back to the early 13th century. This type of window appeared in the early 12th century, but stopped being used in the middle of the 13th century. The luminous nature of the handmade, thick but uneven glass enhances the light passing through it.

central quatrefoils have monthly labour and zodiac sign:
lowest is January/Aquarius,
then May/Gemini,
July/Leo,
October/Scorpio,
at the top is Christ sitting between Alpha and Omega

Below is an enlargement of the lowest five medallions.

Top left:
foot warming, February.
Top right: Pisces
Centre:
Aquarius and the New Year (Janus) with three faces
Bottom left: window donor - the vinegrowers
Bottom right: window donor - Count Thibault VI of Champagne,
on behalf of Thomas, Count of Perche, killed at the battle of Lincoln, 1217

Where's the lion? There he is on the left - looks like a Golden Retriever to me. Stained glass windows are replete with such details. To find these details in the 200 windows at Chartres would take years.

The floor labyrinth was laid in 1205, and was used by the monks for walking contemplation. It is still used by pilgrims. There is only one path 964 feet long. At the centre of the labyrinth there used to be a metal plate showing figures of Theseus, Ariadne, and the Minotaur, the characters in the classical myth of the Minos labyrinth.

portals and tympana

[Note : the French word for tympanum is tympan.]

The three main entrances of Chartres - the West front, the North front and the South front - each have three huge porches. Chartres is impressive in having three separate triple-doorways, complete with statuary, tympanum and archivaults. These three main entrances are on the west front, and the north and south transepts.

At Chartres cathedral, north transept, east side

A : tympanumB : lintel or architraveC : archivaults D : statuary (the statue between the doors is a trumeau)

The tympana provide illustrations to Christian symbolism, the life of Jesus and to the lives of saints.

west facade, typanum on the central door of the royal portal

Here, the statues surrounding Jesus are the symbols of the four evangelists:

On one of the typana of the south portal is illustrated good deeds made by Saint Martin (to left) and Saint Nicholas

Lower left: the Roman soldier Martin, on horseback, cuts his military cloak in half. He shares it with a beggar at the gate of Amiens.
Upper left: Martin asleep, with his servant lying on the floor. Jesus appears wrapped in the half cloak Martin had given to the beggar.

Lower right: Nicholas, protector of virgins and origin of Father Christmas, drops a purse containing three dowries into the house of a sick nobleman. His poverty means he must sell his three daughters into prostitution.
Upper right: Sick people visiting the tomb of Saint Nicholas are cured by oils oozing from the tomb.

last judgement tympanum

Several French cathedrals have a Last Judgement tympanum. these include Poitiers, Reims, Bourges, Amiens, Notre Dame de Paris, Conques, Aveyron, Autun, Moissac, Bazas.

Here is the Last judgement tympanum at Chartres cathedral:

Last judgement tympanum on the south portal at Chartres

Here, Jesus is in the centre showing the wounds of the crucifixion (the Passion). He is flanked by Mary and St. John the Evangelist. Above, angels carry the "instruments of Christ's Passion" - cross, crown of thorns, nails, lance, column and whip. Below are souls going to their judgement.

statues

The portals and tympana are just one part of the vast assembly of statuary to be seen both outside and inside Chartres cathedral. Like the stained glass, the statues inform, educate, celebrate and commemorate. There are thousands of statues, depending on how you count - statues within statues, scenes with several characters, decorations and embellishments - ranging from column statues to bas reliefs to tomb covers. As with the stained glass, abelard has chosen just a few examples to whet the visitor's visual appetite.

To the right are statues from the right bay of the North Porch - consecrated to Old Testament prefigurations of Jesus and his bride, the Church. Here is shown the column statues on the left. They are thought to represent:

• Balaam standing on his ass;
• The Queen of Sheba, a figure for the Church, leans towards Solomon. Beneath her feet is her Ethiopian slave;
• Solomon prefiguring Jesus in his wisdom; his judgement, and in having built the temple. Beneath him is a scribe recording his laws.

Note how each person stands on an object that relates to their history or significance.

Below: Bas-relief of the nativity, dating from the 13th century, from the reign of Saint Louis, came from the rood screen which had been destroyed in 1763, when religious customs changed. No longer was the high altar and choir to be hidden from the common congregation in the nave. The screen's stones were then used to make the paving for the entrance to the sanctuary. It was only in 1849, when the paving was lifted that enough pieces were recovered to be put in a small archeological museum in the crypt dedicated to St. Martin.

From 1210 to 1260, during the Saint Louis' reign, as part of the strong artistic movement that manifested in France at the time, there was a Chartraine school of sculpture, that trained several master sculptors.

to visit locally

The late Gabriel Loire, who I would regard as probably the best modern stained glass artist, was based in Chartres, his studio, showroom and shop being adjacent to the north facade of the cathedral. As well as seeing samples of his work in the showroom, several local buildings, such as hotels, have examples of his work. After Gabriel Loire's death in 1996, the studio continues under the management of Gabriel Loire's son and grandsons. However, they do not have the eye and talent of their recent ancestor.

During his life, Gabriel Loire made over 450 stained glass installations in France, as well as many others in Britain, Ireland, Germany, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Chile, South Africa. In England, his stained glass can be seen at

Saint Richard's Church, Chichester (1963)

Saint Peter's Church, East Withery (1963)

Holycross Church, Ryde, Isle of Wight (1971 & 1988)

Chapel of the Trinity, Salisbury Cathedral (1964)

Saint Mary's College Chapel, Twickenham (1963-5)
This last is a spectacular example of modern stained glass.

bibliography

This is almost a telephone directory of the stained glass and statuary (statues) of the cathedral. The book has been around in various versions for most of a hundred years. Thus it is cheap and easy to obtain.

Bread, wine and money: the windows of the trades at Chartres Cathedral
by
Jane Welch Williams

A strange and disorganised book, written by a Marxist whose main concern appears to be proving that the peasants were oppressed, even during the great cathedral building enthusiasm. In my view, she doesn’t make an impressive, or even interesting, case.

However, her analysis of the glass and related statues is very interesting and competent, if you can plough your way through the muddle. The text is only about 110 pages, while the ropey photographs are relegated to the back of the book. Hence enormous extra effort must be expended, flicking back and forth.

Jane Welch Williams’s analysis is made under three headings, following the books title.

bread - the main wealth of the Chartres regionwine - I’m not clear where she’s going with this sectionmoney - this is where she is remarkably well-informed.

96-page paperback book with 35 pages of heavy card printed in colour, to cut out and make into 1/250th scale model.
Text in French with English, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese transmations included.

Note that the French publisher, L'Instant Durable, appears to only sell its publications through online outlets such as amazon.

end notes

Saint Zosimus of Phoenicia was on the way to Caesarea when a hungry lion leapt upon the monk’s donkey, then dragged it away to eat. On refinding the lion, Zosimus said, “I do not have sufficient strength to carry my load because of old age. So you carry it, and then you can return to the wilderness and be fierce again as lions are.” The lion docilely carried Zosimus's load to Caesarea, where the monk set him free.